DIY Skimmer

[andy]

Well, my DIY skimmer has been up and running for a while now so I guess it's safe to post about it (scary)

Video of it in action here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58whP_pYylI).

Construction:

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5000.JPG
Carefully drilling holes for the Uni-seals in the 6" extruded acrylic tube. Cast acrylic is said to be much better than extruded, but is more expensive. I did run into a small-ish problem that I might not have if I had sprung for cast, but overall I'm satisfied.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5002.JPG
Holes drilled. Upper hole for the input, lower two for the needlewheel recirculating pump drain and return. Drain hole off to the side.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5003.JPG
Uni-seals installed.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5004.JPG
Gluing the tube to the base.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5005.JPG
And what do we glue acrylic with? ;-)

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5006.JPG
Coming together...

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5010.JPG
The drain pipe with ball joint.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5011.JPG
The template I made for the top, and the final product. The pointy end will get drilled for the output pipe vent tube.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5016.JPG
I 'borrowed' the neck and collection tube off of my Berlin skimmer. I plan on making a replacement once the weather warms up a bit, garage is too chilly now :-(

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5018.JPG
Initially, I glued the Berlin neck down with cyano-acrylate (superglue) but it didn't seal so I filleted it with epoxy putty.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5019.JPG
Off to the router/shaper table!

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5021.JPG
Routed the neck, nice and even.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5022.JPG
Assembled, looking a bit goofy with it's little Berlin pin-head collection cup.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5025.JPG
I started off with only 6 nylon wingnut/bolts and no gasket. I had to double the number of bolts and cut a custom gasket to fit, bloody leaks.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5026.JPG
Here's the maybe-extruded-acrylic-problem I had. When pushing the PVC through the lower uni-seal, the bottom cracked. I wanted to cry. Nothing a bit of epoxy putty couldn't fix, though.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5031.JPG
All assembled, with the PCI 2400 needlewheel pump connected. The gee-gaw on the pump is an acrylic bracket I had to build to hold the pump together after I broke the tabs off the cheap plastic impeller shroud. The gee-gaw later broke, acrylic doesn't resist the stress of flexing particularly well.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5160.JPG
Installed and running, with a fancy new OceanRunner 2700 Needlewheel pump replacing the annoying PCI pump.

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_5161.JPG
Dry skimming on the very first night

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/Skimmer/IMG_51451.JPG
First skimmate -- dark and surprisingly not-nasty-smelling. Tastes great, less filling!

Next up? MESHWHEEL!!

[inkto]

There has to be a little adventure in any DIY or it wouldn't be DIY, right? :) The funny thing about the extruded vs. cast debate is that both my Korallin reactor and my AquaC skimmer are made with extruded and I don't recall any major issues with product reliability over the years. Cast is undoubtedly a better material in many regards and a mass-produced product favoring the cheaper of the two offers no surprise... but I say if you can work the cheaper material (even with a little crying :) ) why not use it in low pressure situations like this?

[oldbrownies]

how tall did you make the skimmer chamber? I am planning on doing something similar, but i can't decide how tall.

oh and where did you get 6" extruded?

[andy]

18" tall. I got it at TAP Plastics on Sandy in Portland.

[mister crabs]

how do you think your skimmer compares to a good quality skimmer like an octopus or something? I may go the DIY route if it saves me some coin. how much you think total to build this thing?

[andy]

Hard to do a direct comparison, I don't have one to compare to. I'd put it up against the competition though :-) I probably spent about $200 on it, including $90 for the needlewheel pump.

[oldbrownies]

Sweet, I just orderd acrylic for my new skimmers, calcium reactors and kalk reactors, 2 of each! I'm insane I know

[oldbrownies]

btw, how are the uni-seals working out for you? I see that the one around the output pipe looks like its covered in epoxy

[andy]

The uni-seals work great just be careful installing the PVC pipe through them. I didn't wet it enough and pressed too hard -- cracked the acrylic, fixed with epoxy :-(

[oldbrownies]

oh okay, I saw that you cracked it, I just didn't realize that you cracked it that bad

[andy]

Cracked from the drain hole to the edge, about 1.5"

[andy]

I got sick of that nasty Berlin neck and cup, so I took a stab at heat-forming my own tapered neck. I think it turned out okay for a first try:

http://reef.eldersign.org/images/skimmer_new_neck.jpg

The riser is too tall, I'll have to shorten it an inch or so. This skimmer itself has a few fundamental design and build flaws, I think it's time to start from scratch on v2.0 (whistle)

[andy]

Update on the extruded vs. cast acrylic discussion (http://reef.eldersign.org/?p=122).

[wanareef]

I started off with only 6 nylon wingnut/bolts and no gasket. I had to double the number of bolts and cut a custom gasket to fit, bloody leaks.

Just an idea - you can use an "O" ring for a better seal. Just rout a small "ledge" for the "O" ring then put the top on and it's sealed. I'll try and post a pix as that will be eaiser to understand.

Another idea, to use 3/8" material for the bottom of the flange, then you can just "tap" threads for thumb screws.